Reaction to the Finale

After eight years the audience comes to end of a journey, or really a mis-journey, as Mad Men's final scenes do not suggest complete and utter happiness or conclusions that are stable by being earned or deserved, but on the contrary, happiness is flat lined with fake ambiguity and lessons not learned with just another day in the life of roads the characters have already been down before paving the way that what could of been meaningful connections in life, in which could of translated self awareness through artistic expression, is all shrugged off by the tail-chasing constant of cynical idealism and commercialism.

Either creator Matthew Weiner set out to prove that his audience is just as broken, out of touch, and non complacent as his characters, -and the period from which they derive, by having people respond with remarks like: I liked the ending, but I am not satisfied. or Mad Men could never have a satisfying ending, or I like it, but something doesn't sit with me right, or that the ending was in fact the epitome of happiness and open to interpretation, because the audience is determined to like Mad Men no matter what it's message is, as an iconic part of pop cultural Americana, making Weiner insidious by caring more about the reaction to the work than the work itself or Mr. Weiner is in fact the latest incarnate of Ayn Rand, where I find that promoting romantic realism and cynical idealism does not in fact help a society to become better, but rather offers an excuse to say,  'Do as I say, not as I do." in world where like Roger Sterling proclaims, "Nobody cares", because ultimately nothing means anything. So why did I read or watch these things again? It's an anti-inspiring message that could of been about change being the constant in what has often been coined, "a time of change", but instead said panders to the more depressing, the more things change, the more they stay the same and tells us the truth is that life is a pointless add in which almost no person can truly evolve or progress, which is odd or sadly ironic when one considers how many times the series alludes to more hopeful and socially positive attributing and/or self transforming work like Charles Dickens, Frank L. Baum, Nels Anderson, James Bond, James Hilton, and even Walt Disney, let alone both the promotion and warnings of technological advancement and a fantastic dance number about how the best things in life are free. I personally hope the first suggestion is more accurate and that perhaps Mad Men's ending lacks solidarity or justification in a boring cycle of narcissism for a better reason, because there could be a spin off that acts as a counter agent to cynical idealism, such as humanism or humanitarianism, ---and maybe in the form of Sally Draper...

The Vanishing Act OR A Hitchhiker's Guide To Donald Draper

As we come much closer to the final episodes, Lost Horizon, again may give us some clues as where we are going. There are still some things that support time travel/alternate reality theory.

Again Christmas Day and Ghosts are a topic of conversation ala A Christmas Carol, as Burt appears again to Don driving across the HEARTLAND, and Roger passes Burt's Ancient Japanese Erotic Art piece onto to Peggy, which points out that despite separation of story, the two characters are inextricably linked.

There may also be subtle reference to The Wizard of Oz. Peggy pictured with a basket and she later puts herself in another kind of shoe (rollers kates), talks of non-talking dogs at the Beer Luncheon-Meeting, Diana being refereed to as a Tornado, a Scarecrow in the feild at the side of the road on Don's journey, and the mentioning of HOME SICKNESS along with characters like Joan fighting for what they believe in seems like such a familiar tale...But it's 1939 Film version that must be given credit, since unlike Frank L. Baum's novels, The characters in Oz are visual doppelgangers/counterparts to Dorothy's own family that she is trying to get back to...

Note: The Other Don has the inherent senses to know this change isn't good for her, so goes to a "travel" agency instead---themes of various travels become present with this awareness, as the novel On The Road is referenced and we see Don travel and pick up another traveler...

This also brings me to look at the final three episode titles. Lost Horizon is a film about people who disappear in a mountain town in China after their plane crashes. Much like the TV show LOST, it's a story about starting over and finding oneself on a spiritual level.

The remaining two titles are The Milk And Honey Route and Person To Person. The Milk and Honey Route may refer to the work of Nels Anderson, titled, Milk And Honey Route; A Handbook For Hobos! Anderson was a sociologist trying to find progressive ways to help those in need.

Person to Person could refer to one of the first TV shows that interviewed celebrities, but more over I think it's an unfinished phrase: Person to Person, Place to Place...and the ides of finally getting in touch with oneself. It all plays to communication and travel.

So when we put these things together along with events that occurred in the episode Lost Horizon we get a few notable ideas

Theme of drifters or drifting. Don going place to place to search for Diana, followed by Don picking up a hitchhiker, hobo, or drifter, furthered by David Bowie's Major Tom all point to the idea that Don may be going missing. Perhaps with a group of people  (farming/commune-like people - finding Jesus-esque...Jeremy Bentham: Not Paul, But Jesus) who can't be found, whether because they are nomads or because they are very well hidden.

So I could easily see a plot where everyone is searching for Don years later, but to further his own story, Don changes his identity again...but will it be the one he let go of or has he stolen someone else's???

In some sense the series could easily not end in time travel at all, as this almost points to a Gaius Balter (Battlestar Galactic re-imaged) like ending, where Don goes back to his roots...

On the other hand, maybe the truth is that maybe it wasn't that he wasn't suppose to be Donald Draper, but that he was just suppose to something different and he could still end the series in bed/on the couach, wishing for something more meaningful, (or a tornado comes),  and then waking up elsewhere--landing safely on the couch.

Another thing to point out was the woman that they cast as Diana's "replacement" or "stand in" is none other than Sarah Jane Morris. The reason I find this amusing is because, I had stated before that I thought the Kodak Carousal pitch, having Don refer to it as a "time machine", was such a similar concept of J.J. Abram's Felicity, in which Ben calls the film canister of The Gold Rush, a "time machine", which Felicity's series ends with a time travel!! The one character that proves to Felicity once and for all that she wasn't completely nuts and did time travle was Zoe Webb, Noel's future wife, whom happens to be in the same institution Felicity goes to. Zoe Web is played by Sarah Jane Morris!!

A Christmas Story - Responsibility of Growing Up

Mad Men returns in it's third episode of the second half of the final season with a lot of allusions to a lot works of fiction and continuing to call back to things of Mad Men's Past...

The title of this post is in reference to Don telling Mathis jokingly to go back into negotiations and to bring a bar soap to wash his mouth out four saying a four letter F-word. The Christmas Story is an iconic film based on a series of stories first written by Jean Shepard (In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash), in which the film version, comically explores the life of a family during the depression-era while also more specifically is a moral coming of age story about a boy who wants a Red Riffle BB Gun for Christmas. Ultimately, besides learning responsibility for owning a fire arm, and a mother trying to not let her sons grow up too fast, the story also emphasizes that family and/or human connection is more important than success.

This again could support my time travel theory, as this again could go hand in hand with the likes of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, where Christmas stories are often about spiritual awakenings in the name of changing our ways for the better. The Christmas Story may alsor elate to Mad Men in parallel to Don's own upbringing, being a child of the Depression Era and interestingly, Lucky Strike was also referenced in this episode, which adds featured: The Great American Cowboy. Young Ralphie of the The Christmas Story fantasized himself a cowboy-like hero using his BB Gun to save his family from bandits...


Duncan, Conner, Quinton, James MacLeod. 
Although MacLeod (sounds like Mac-CLOUD) could easily play to a fantasy reference such as Peter Pan (which I will get to after this), it immediately reminded me of television, film, novels, and cartoon series Highlander, in which in all three versions it's Irish MacLeod characters time travel!

Note: Actor Bruce Greenwood is an iconic science fiction actor with works such as Deja Vu, I Robot, and more recently, the new alternate timeline of Star Trek films.

Peter Pan & Neverland:
One of Mad Men's biggest occurring themes is also Mothers and their children and this almost Freudian-esque look at how one's mother or mother figure can play a significant role in one's life and what it means to grow up. In a lot ways, one can argue that Mad Men has been about the anti-adult, the struggle to not grow up, but I think if that's true, then it's not necessarily an add for not growing up, but more over the consequences for not doing so. For me the definition of adulthood is being responsible and so much of the time, the characters constantly cave into irresponsibility. However at the same time, adulthood shouldn't hinder us from childlike sense of wonder, because not only is that where creative thought is often thought to be, but also dreams and ideas is where happiness lies and perhaps the point in being an adult is to find the balance between happiness and responsibility, --and to learn what is really worth fighting for and what isn't!

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The Ghost Of Don-mas Past -You Must Be Mistaken Me For Somebody Else

We return finally for the last batch of episodes (only 6) in Mad Men's journey, one, as I think the episode hinted at, will be bittersweet.

I briefly had read a Forbes preview article siting the importance of Midge Daniels, the first woman viewers meet of Don's extra marital affairs. I disagree with the article in her being the most important, as almost all characters,including the woman, present a contrast and insight into Donald Draper or Dick Whitman's identity, as this show really is another great character study, but instead, I feel the writer failed to realize that this is about coming full circle to point out Don went down the wrong path yet again. And IMO the most important woman to adult Donald Draper are Anna Draper, Sally, and Peggy Olsen!

The Christmas Carol and Carousal-like-time-machine effects continue to be strong in the first episode of 7B titled "Severance" (to leave/be fired with pay/compensation). We left off last season with Don signing his name over to McCann with a five year contract on the back of the death of Bert, whom Don imagined (or not) seeing, after his death, singing a fabulous dance number, again pointing out the error of the Don's choices, as money is not always the answer to happiness, the best things in life are free----human connections. (Think Burger Chef Pitch!)

The first episode has lots to look at. Bizarrely we do see  an image of a cross between Abigail Whitman and Midge, only she's really not  Midge or Abigail, but Diana. With a nonsensical aspect of very rich men with three very young and attractive woman, it's hard to imagine their attraction to this cheap dinner in the first place, but as far as writing goes, the Mildred Pierce reference, to Don openly telling a story about his step mother and a toaster to leaving behind a 100 dollar bill, and coming back later and having quick degrading sex with Diana out back while he tries to make a connection to her by talking to her about seeing ghosts, all points out Don's past and how he can't put his finger on the eeriness of his surroundings, something that brilliantly Ken Crosgrove always could, as he mentions himself in the episode.

Note: That juxtaposition of rich men eating at a poor dinner is also juxtaposed with the non rich Peggy offering her date to randomly to fly to Paris at a moments notice--something that also may be referencing the film, While We Are Young. There is also this point made with Peggy and Joan being horrifically treated at their Topaz meeting, and despite that maybe Peggy put her foot in her mouth about Joan's appearance, the truth is Peggy is right in that Joan has so much money, she doesn't have to put herself through all the abuse, if she doesn't want to and that makes Peggy's tolerability interesting, when you consider she can't really do what she wants to. And then we see Joan act like Don at the dress shop, denying her past,...

Note: Mildred Pierce, a hard-boiled Depression-Era-set novel, is also a rags to riches cautionary tale in terms of looking at what happiness really is.

The ghost that Don saw was non other than Rachel Menken, another one of Don's early love interests. One who matched him in business, but one who pointed out Don's lack of spirituality or appreciation of heritage and perhaps served as one of Don's first realizations and/or at least the audiences', of how Don had been denying his past, his roots, as he began to admit some of it to her.

Two other interesting aspects of seeing and referencing Rachel come in again dealing with death, which for me and/or this theory may still be about the death of Anna Draper (and perhaps his brother) being one of, if not the main point of, where Don should of jumped off. Also it deals with the unseen--the fur coat modeling connects to Don meeting the young Betty Draper (when selling coats), who does not appear in this episode all again points to Don's choices and identity he stole earlier in life.


The Promotional Videos/Photos For 7B: 

My Sweetest Hangover:
Although the outdoor party montage is a pretty photo shoot of what might be the last party, last call, or a 'last supper' of sorts, the more important message is the concept of the song's refrain, 'My sweetest hangover'. Hangovers are generally not thought of to be sweet, but a painful wake-up call that the dream and/or fantasy you thought you were living [the night before] is over and/or wasn't a fantasy at all, because there are always consequences to our actions or how things look in the sobering light of day. So in a way, one could attribute this to an ironic statement about death or change pointing to painful tragedy, but one could also look at it another way: what if a hangover could be "sweet", because it actually gets you to where you will become most happy? Or what if a hangover is sweet, because you simply wake up the next day with the right person in the right life and that the fantasy you were having was actually a nightmare or fever dream???


Kodak Carousal [Photo Slide Projector Wheel] "Time Machine" Metaphor - Montage
The second video ad, one not played as often as Sweet Hangover, features the beautiful lines of Don's pitch for the Kodak Carousal along with great images showcasing the series and solidifies my Christmas Carol alternate reality/time travel theory arguement in how important that pitch/line of dialogue is to the entire series, because it was saved for last.

A Don of a New Age - A Time of Change

Alright looking at next batch of episodes TIME again becomes an incredible theme.

In the third episode Don and Sally both lie and come clean when Sally finds out Don is no longer working and when he finds out she used a funeral of a friend as an excuse to go shopping (which was brought on by peer pressure I might add). Don explains to Sally at the dinner that he told the TRUTH about himself to wrong people, at THE WRONG TIME.

This beautifully calls back to the season 7 premiere and the concept of 'accurate time' playing on the idea that there are "different times" and that timing is everything...

Betty also goes with Bobby on a field trip with his school to farm, where we see Bobby do something a little inconsiderate, especially because it seemed he was so happy to have his mother there. Betty as usual doesn't act too grown up about it by making Bobby feel worse about his actions than needed to be. Later when at home Henry asks Bobby what happened, noticing Bobby's sulking and Betty's cool, but obviously hurt feelings. Bobby says, "I wish it was yesterday." This implies the idea of regret and the wish to either go back to happier day and/or an option to be able to do it all again and make a different choice.  (The pick nick scene might also call back to Betty Glenn.)


Ken Crossgrove also makes contact with Don after the company 'sort-of' lets Don come back to work. He tells Don about his own project and sites that he was reminded of Don's  Kodac Carousel Add -- ("It's a time machine." See Below also for "On A Carousal" reference)


In the latest episode there are some really interesting things going on. Don, who's made at his situation takes it out on Peggy by not making the tags that she is forced to ask him for. The office is also being turned upside by electricians due to getting a new computer system. Don meets one of the guys named Loyd. There conversations become double talk for computers and human replacement being a metaphor for existentialism, siting that everything becomes obsolete at some point. Another conversation ends up being about advertising where Loyd and Don pitch ideas about IBM and selling computers, in which Don ends up complementing Loyd, which makes Don's next confrontation with him when drunk seem rather appropriate, as Don is basically facing a younger distorted version of himself, making Don feel obsolete. (also notice the way Loyd lit Don's cigarette and possible reminder to the life he stole)

Note: There's some interesting word play going on with names. DOn and lOyD, along with lots of "L" names: Lange, Lou, and Loyd.

Time was also played with, as Don left the office only to see him loop around and walk back into it on another day.

The idea of the office being worked on  feels aptly like good science fiction and those literature pioneers of a space age, (let alone 1969 IS when Americans first go to the moon), as if building this computer would be like building a rocket to take people to the moon---which goes along with Roger's situation and obvious Jules Verne reference (From The Earth To The Moon) , although there's a juxtaposition as Vern's vessel to the moon, much like the farm his daughter is staying at, is not futuristic or considered advanced, but just civil war technology used as a projectile shot out with a cannon.



This brings me to Roger's family scenes. The farm house I think calls back and presents many things and may be one of the most symbolic scenes of the series so far. The way it looks is very similar to the way the one Don was first brought up in looked, but again there is an interesting contrast, as in this we have people choosing to live this lifestyle and calling it "happy" and where in Don's and Don's father's case it was more of a forced way off life, but in both cases there's a shared hypocrisy between strong religious beliefs and responsibility, as Don's father was not virtuous to his wife and where one has to question Roger's daughter in embracing her own youth, but denying and abandoning her child's. She points out that her parents weren't the best parents simply because they took to bad vices in order to pretend to be the parents she thinks they are not. In some respect she has a great point, but on another she has an option to give her son a better life by being a different kind of parent to him and thus given the implication that a relationship between a certain man on the farm proves Roger right, makes for her actions a complete cop-out.

This child abandonment and the implications of certain sexual situations also ties back to Don and his own childhood experiences, but also Peggy and her choice to give up her child. And this adds a philosophical debate on whether the point of life is to be happy, especially since in Peggy's case, despite actually becoming more responsible with her choice, is still not a happy person, and if happiness and responsibility for our actions are truly at odds, or if there should be balance between them somewhere?


Freddy, nursing a drunk and eventually hung over Don, gives him some words of wisdom during the dawn of the next day. He tells him basically not to fall back into his old habits. That to be mature and not give into an expected failure of the others at the company and go to work and make the tags Peggy requested. He sites, it's the dawn of a new age. (or as viewers might take it a Don of a new AGE). Don takes his advice.

The end of this episode also features the song by The Hollies, "On A Carousal"  with lyrics,

Riding along on a carousel
Trying to catch up to you
Riding along on a carousel
Will I catch up to you

Horses chasing 'cause they're racing
So near yet so far
On a carousel, on a carousel

Nearer, nearer by changing horses
Still so far away
People fighting for their places
Just get in the way

Soon you'll leave and then I'll lose you
Still we're going round
On a carousel, on a carousel

Round and round and round and round and round
And round and round and round with you
Up, down, up, down, up, down too

As she leaves she drops the presents
That she won before
Pulling ducks out of the water
Got the highest score

Now's my chance and I must take it
A case of do-or-die
On a carousel, on a carousel

Round and round and round and round and round
And round and round and round with you
Up, down, up, down, up, down too

Riding along on a carousel
Trying to catch up to you
Riding along on a carousel
Will I catch up to you

Now we take our ride together
No more chasing her
On a carousel, on a carousel

Continuing on with Time Travel Dream (When Peggy Sue Got Married)...

So it's been a long long while since I wrote, but after viewing the first of season seven's final season episode, I feel I have more to add to my previous theory about Don going back in time to the night of Peggy's Birthday and when Anna's ghost may have been looking over him (again A Christmas Carol-like idea)

So the episode title was "Time Zones" as we see a slew of characters go back in forth from New York and California, using time as a visual contrast. The episode also featured Peggy trying hard to get a certain pitch for a watch add for "Accurate Time" in which she believes should be " a conversation piece" (which is what Mad Men is or should be). This also feels like it goes back to Don's Kodak Carousel add...

It's also through the Supreme's song covered by Iron Butterfly's "You keep me hanging on" that tells is the TIMES ARE CHANGING. The woman on the airplane is similar idea to last season's opener with Don coming across a guy that is reflective to a young Roger, or 'a roger of the past', except this woman is a representation of a future Megan in which Don rejects, which shows us Don is changing...

But the song is also reflective not just of the sign of the times, but more over homing in on Mad Men's greatest theme of life, death, and rebirth, which I think has always been marked by the opening sequence of Don falling off the balcony/high story window. It's also why I believe Margery's scenes are all about forgiveness, because in many philosophies this is the high road one should take not only for themselves, but possibly for "another life" spiritual purposes. And with this being the first half of Mad Men's final season, we know the end is near.

And lastly I also want to point out that we keep playing with hot and cold motifs going back again to that "snow balls chance in hell" idea which was beautifully contrasted last year with both scenes of Hawaii and a very snowy New York. So it was interesting to see a closed Windowed L.A. apartment, where Coyotoes are being discussed in contrast to the New York apartment, where the Window won't shut, where it's cold, and where Don sits out there as if he's absolutely on fire (like the time he had that horrible fever and "hallucinated"), who's numbness is all contrasted beautifully with Peggy's breakdown.

The Ghost of Christmas Past and Future - Mad Men Dream Theory Pg 2.

For those that didn't catch the first page (which I suggest you might want to, because "dream theories" tend to really irritate some people and I have a little preface warning blog readers about it), let me start with the idea that the dream starts on the night that Anna passes away, which is also Peggy's birthday.
(A theme of death and renewal/rebirth)

"Let Your Conscience Be Your Guide"
(Note: Pinocchio references in Mad Men = Wanting to be a real [honest] boy verses lies that makes one "fake")

This whole iconic sitting or laying on the couch idea is a notorious symbol of our subconsciousness, and our subconsciousness is synonymous for insights into how we are feeling based on the decisions we make everyday. It plays to both our fears and our dreams --our imagination.

 In Mad Men there are several instances with people laying on the couch. There's Mad Man's opening theme with Don falling through his life, but landing safely on the couch. It represents both suicidal aspects of being an ad man at this time (as it mirrors the idea of selling lies, or fantasies to people, while not being true to yourself or those you care about) and about the human capacity to "reflect" on life in general.

This is furthered by characters that go and see psychiatrists through out the series. From Betty (who also buys a lounge chaser because it reminds her of the fantasy of wanting to be Henry), Sally, Jane (mentioned only), and now in season 6 Roger, all of these characters seem to need a place to voice their concerns (or in Rogers case a pretending of lack there of).

The night Anna passes away she seems appear as a ghost while Don briefly wakes up after falling asleep on Peggy's lap, as they both lay asleep on the couch in Don's office. It's at that moment where I think Mad Men veers off onto another road, a road that's about denial and/or enlightenment. (Aka: "The Jumping Off Point")





With that I bring us to the title of this post which ironically references ideas presented in Charles Dickens' Christmas story, "A Christmas Carol". It's something that I think was profoundly and eerily expressed in the two hour season six premiere, but also presented towards the end of season five.


We open season 6 a bit in the future. Meghan has become successful landing a small role in a soup opera, but she and Don have decided to take a WINTER vacation to Hawaii (it's on behalf of a client), before returning home for New Years. Meghan and new characters, a Client and his wife who wants to advertise Royal Hawaii along with a women who recognizes Megan from her soap opera named Karen (and who has an accent reminiscent to Anna Drapers) are the only character speaking for much of the opening scene. Don is mostly silent, passive, and is complacent until he goes to bar and meets a random young blonde G.I. PFC DINKINS. who in know doubt is reminiscent to Roger Sterling. In this sense we see the Ghost of Christmas Past, as we can see what it would be like to see Roger as a young man.

Note: Later Don ends up with Dinkins lighter. He tries to get rid of it, only to have Meghan pick it out of the trash. He then passes it on to the other Dawn at work. This all contrasted with a VERY drunk Don appearing sick and throwing up at Roger's Mother's Funereal Gathering, which is much like what Roger did with clients in a previous season! These things are important since Dinkins looks and behaves like a young Roger, but also because Don left his Mother (the one who raised him) to think he was dead (he even passed on Don's real body to her and his brother), but also that it's Dick. dropping his lighter that kills the original Donald Draper. Dinkins is also very close name to Dickens and both are close to Dick. This also goes with the concept, "What comes around, goes around" (Karma/Fate). PFC also reminds me ad agency names, such as our own SCDP. Could there be foreshadowing here? Could theses be deaths, Pryce, Frances (Betty), & Cooper???? And what about Past, Future, Current?

Other scenes included the Francis residents where a young girl named Sandy (a little older than Sally and note Sandy plays to 'the beach') had lost her mother and has been spending a lot of time with Betty in particular, as Betty sees need to sudo-adopt her. Sandy is an interesting character, as we can see the aspirations of a much younger pre- big city living Peggy Olsen, but also because her mother's death dances around Betty, whom last season "envisioned" herself post death due to a cancer scare, and because when we first meet Betty in season one she's struggling with a loss of her mother, whom she often lies about how she truly felt about her, while also mirroring her mother by playing mind games with her own daughter, including this idea of ignoring Sally for the sake of another.

Additionally Sandy plays the violin and dreams of going to Julliard School of Music, which defies the convectional ideals of the previous time period had about the place of a women, a discussion she has with Betty in the kitchen on Christmas...Sandy soon after leaves without saying goodbye, while Betty's role in the rest of the episode is about trying to find this lost girl.

The idea of this child playing the violin is playing to a well known verbal expression, "get out the violin.", which is the idea of already knowing something is sad, and Mad Men's case, is leaning towards a swan song (death).

Note: The title A Christmas CAROL implies it's a story that is a spiritual song. And Sandy may also be a juxtaposition/allusion to Joan, as Joan plays the accordion. This episode, or ideas presented in it may tie back to the episode "The Gold Violin" (disillusionment). Sandy is also likely a juxtaposition/allusion to Sally, as both the idea of growing up 'motherless' and/or not being able to connect with your mother is something Sally has experienced (and so has Betty), but also Julliard has a school of Dance and not just music. Sally had practiced Ballet in younger years (this could then be foreshadowing her coming of age, leaving the nest) . Additionally MUSIC may be something we associate with the goodness of Anna Draper, as she taught children how to play the piano and Anna may be a reference to St. Anne. ("Grace" - Mother of Mary) -And this is also contrasted with Peggy's trying to figure out a pitch for a head phone company...One could argue that wearing head phones could be a metaphor for either being in your own world and/or not being able to hear others around you.

Once back in an earlier season Don was trying to pitch an add that included young people smoking cigarettes. But what Don says is really at heart of the whole series suggesting the rebellious streak is about about children turning into adults, but really about pinning for their childhood, as they don't know yet that they're going to die.

Anna also had told Don that there is much value in young people. Telling him that they are what keep older people youthful.

Ultimately Mad Men is about facing the inevitable and fearing what comes next.

The whole thing with the death of Sandy's mother and Betty's search for Sandy is all contrasted by a the death of Roger's mother and the first time in any episode we finally see Roger have a breakdown and cry. One could argue that Betty and Roger are also similar characters in that their behavior is often child like or adolescent and that both characters are often extremely two-faced, -and both characters are often vein and spitful.

From Hell & Back

But most of this episode's impact and awareness to Charles Dickens Christmas Moral Story comes off skirts of last season, as the British character (playing to 1960's British Invasion themes) Lane Pryce killed himself in similar fashion to Don's brother, but during Christmas. This first episode back we jump ahead to another Christmas, one where the company has expanded (to the point where one can get lost in crowd) and Lane is forgotten.

Charles Dickens' tale about a cranky old man named Eboneeser Scrooge, who cares for nothing but his wealth and success and who treats those [he deems] underneath him appallingly bad during the Christmas season. He is first visited by his former business partner Jacob Marley, whom just escaped from Hell to tell Scrooge just how bad it is and that he will be visited by 3 ghosts of time to remind him of who he was, who he is, and who he will become if he does not change his ways. The ghost of Christmas future in particular is the one that presents an alternate reality filled with a nightmarish post death sorrow.

One allusion is Peggy, who again is mirroring a former Don (like the night of Peggy's Birthday) by not letting some of the people who work for her go home on New Years Eve, as it's a similar idea of Scrooge making one of his employees work on Christmas Eve Day.


Charles Dickens is also known for using whimsical names in most of his works. When you think about it many of the characters have surnames that add an additional dimension to their personal struggles with life they face, such as Lane Pryce, as a Lane is another name for street or road and Pryce is a word very close to Price, which spells out themes about values and choices: the roads taken and not taken and the cost of living certain lifestyles that include treating others poorly and/or using others for material gains...

This season also starts with Don and Megan on the beach in Hawaii. Even though it's Christmas, you could have fooled the viewers with this tropical setting. It's "A Snowball's Chance in HELL." (In case you didn't notice Don is sitting on the beach at one point reading " THE INFERNO")

"You Say Goodbye and I Say Hello"

This whole allusion is played through the episode, as Don is trying to create an add for a particular tropical setting, Hawaii. He's presentation features a very philosophical aspect of what Don refers to as "the jumping off point". This idea where one breaths in and out one's life in exchange for another one, as the ad features a man's suit clothes and foot prints left behind, leaving the person looking at the add to wonder or think about (in an adventurous or mysterious way), "Where did this man go?!" The client however reads it a different way, in which he feels it morbidly expresses death.

For me, the truth is I can see it both ways simultaneously, as death can be perceived as state of transition or a change ("this could change everything"), as opposed to a finalization, but it's often brushes with death that make or break us as people, as we keep searching for meaning in our lives, as the BIG questions are, "Are We Coming or are we going?" and "Is this all there is?"

Don's spiritual message in this ad also reminds me of what Harry once told Don about when archaeologists had found hand prints painted on cave walls. -How Harry believed they weren't just leaving their mark/identity behind, but also reaching out into the future. In that instance, which may stem back to this one, Don had used  Harry's idea and made his for Kodak's Carousal pitch. (aka: a reinvention of the wheel /A Time Machine)

This also goes with Megan's Heinz pitch last season in which expresses something eternal from past to future, from cave man to residents of the moon, and mothers and daughters, again playing on nostalgia, leading into season 6 themes (the more things change the more they stay the same/or some things never change), and pointing out that Mad Men's themes are not exclusive to the 1960's, they're universal to all of humanity.

Do You Love Them MADLY?
 Don's inspiration for his ad also ties into other things in the episode and the series. The Door Man (The episode title for 6x01/602 is "The Doorway"), whom Dr. Rosen calls Jonesy collapsed and was pronounced dead, but was revived! (Note: Jonesy is similar sounding name to Joanie, Roger's nickname for Joan) This then goes hand in hand with Don's double hanging deaths, double marriages, double floors at work, and/or double lives taken and given, something touched on in the season 5 finale with the James Bond Theme Song for "You Live Only Twice" playing in the background of the final scenes.

Lyrics for You Live Only Twice:

You Only Live Twice or so it seems,
One life for yourself and one for your dreams.
You drift through the years and life seems tame,
Till one dream appears and love is its name.

And love is a stranger who'll beckon you on,
Don't think of the danger or the stranger is gone.

This dream is for you, so pay the price.
Make one dream come true, you only live twice.

And love is a stranger who'll beckon you on,
Don't think of the danger or the stranger is gone.



Doors (and windows) are then furthered explored by Roger who tells his psychiatrist a metaphor that life is meaningless, because all it's about is walking in and out of doors -and they are all the same and where just going to one place...

This immediately also makes me think of both the band "The Doors", who are named after Aldous Huxley's trippy 1954 novel, "The Doors of Perception" in which Huxley wrote his experience while on mescaline (a mind altering drug). Huxley names his novel after a poem by William Blake, "The Marriage of Heaven and Hell", which Blake barrows "argumentation" prose which is a style well known in Dante's "Inferno" and John Milton's "Paradise Lost."

The episode also introduces a new character (mentioned a couple paragraphs ago) who lives in the same building as Don and became a social acquaintance. Dr. Rosen is heart surgeon aspiring to preform the first American heart transplant! It's a curious occupation to introduce when one considers themes about 'fixing broken hearts'  (and someone else's heart in another's body), especially when in the final scenes the character himself tells Don that he and him are the same, because they really both don't "really" care about their jobs, which is juxtaposed by Don sleeping with his wife, Sylvia, while he "skies" to the hospital New Years Day (very early morning and right after socializing with Don and Megen.

Note: Skies tie back to last season when a pair was given to Pete.

"This time of year can be hard." -Betty

These Are "Hard Times"
Charles Dickens can also be felt in scenes where Betty goes to try to find Sandy in the run down abandoned apartment only to find a bunch of filthy degenerate boys and Sandy's violin in case. Really the scenes are very surreal, not just because Betty can't find her and she helps the boys make something to eat, but that the scenes feel more like a dingy orphanage, which easily makes one think of "Olivier Twist". There's also a juxtaposition back to Glen when he intentionally walked into the bathroom on Betty, as Betty accidentally walks in on a young boy doing the same (And Glen once expressed that his mother was never there to take of him or sister). But the scenes are also haunting, as Betty looks through all THE DOORS of the apartment for a ghost of a girl, who has only left behind this one precious item...an item one boy says Sandy had sold to him, that Betty can't imagine Sandy would ever do, and Betty clinging onto the past of this child, almost takes the violin back home with her, but actually just leaves it outside another DOOR. At home Betty looks for solace and comfort from her own daughter, but sadly has found she too has also moved on, as Sally slams THE DOOR in Betty's face. (It's too late!)

Note: Last Season Betty's Cancer scare referenced The Christmas Carol twice: First with this line to Henry, "I feel like I’ve been given a gift, like Scrooge seeing his tombstone,” and because Betty actually envisions an alternate reality where she has died. 


And briefly wanting to mention Megan, her role and over all identity as a actress in the soup opera also mirrors the "exaggerated" and/or melodramatic feel the series has more and more taken.

The episode also moved around in time (which was something that started happening last season) and all of these homeless children, motherly deaths, and new characters that have familiar appearances/dialogues/situations relating to the other characters all make the episode feel like some crazy trippy manic time warp. Something like, "The Rocky Horror Picture Show". It's a future filled with super narcissism and lack of sentiment running rampant like a runaway train, and like a good Ayn Rand or Dante work, you might be left wondering how does one escape escapism? And is there a line that one can cross and never come back from? Is life really a one way street? And Is There Light At The End of the Tunnel???

Be back next week after 6x03 "The Collaborators" airs and see what it has in store for us!



Food For Thought - Allusions to LOST?









Plane crash (Mohawk/Oceanic) in association to death (Pete's father/Christian)
Island/Beaches (California, Hawaii, Korea -All locations relate to LOST)
Purgatory/Hell/Heaven - (Figurative + Hawaii "the jumping off point")
Doctor specializing in field (Surgeon: Heart/Spinal)
Main Male character in denial/spiritually confused/in the dark ('lost')
Main Male character struggles with his alcoholic/theological views of his father & Fathers Death.
Characters with Military backgrounds
Tapestry of pop culture beautiful woven together
Metaphysical.
Alternate Realities/Multiple Universe? -Dream sequences, and "trips" have been presented, it remains to be seen if my theory is right. If so, then we might see Main Male character come "full circle" through space time  (Corporeal time travel & Ethereal time travel)

Note: Don's pitch with Kodak - "It's a Time Machine" = many J.J. Abrams-esque ideas, as the Island on LOST could literally be perceived as a time machine. In Felicity the character Ben Covington says the same thing about a film (Gold Rush) - "It's A Time Machine". Additionally Felicity featured both Sean recording their lives (hand held video recorder), Felicity receiving and passing messages to and from her friend SALLY (audio recorder), and Felicity time travels via magic spells and experiences 3 alternate realities by the series end.